Excerpted from a press release.
Muenster Milling has completed its new freeze-drying facility in Denton, Texas. The vertically-integrated facility includes raw meat processing capabilities that can produce different protein blends and nutritional profiles, state-of-the-art freeze drying, and turnkey retail packaging in multiple sizes.
With the opening of the new facility and warehouse, covering nearly 120,000 square feet, Muenster now operates more than 20 freeze dryers with the capacity to add more.
Based in Muenster, Texas, the company has in-house product design and formulation capabilities to complement its customers’ development efforts, and its new freeze-drying facility can process and develop some popular that protein in different shapes and sizes, says Jim Holdrieth , CEO. Muenster can formulate and produce 100% freeze-dried complete and balanced meals, functional freeze-dried treats and toppers as well as single ingredient treats. Muenster also offers customers a variety of kill step options that meet their brand requirements, Holdrieth said.
“Freeze dried is a versatile product format that can be a food, functional treat, inclusion, or topper, and it remains one of the fastest growing categories within pet food, experiencing double digit growth of volume and $1 billion in sales by 2023,” Holdrieth said. “Many brands are increasingly looking to enter or grow within the category, and they need sophisticated manufacturing partners to help them do so. This new facility has all the capabilities under one roof that the brands and retailers to bring their innovation pipelines to life.”
Using Muenster’s existing kibble extrusion capabilities, the facility has automated mixing and blending equipment to produce ‘Kibble Plus’ and ‘Freeze Dried Plus’ product formats, pairing one or many different freeze-dried proteins in kibble and freeze-dried vegetables. The facility is also equipped with automated packaging equipment that can run sizes from 1-ounce sample packages to 5-pound bags.
Holdrieth said Muenster has invested heavily in its R&D and quality organization to deliver the highest quality pet food products to the market. Muenster’s in-house R&D capabilities include product formulation and development to help customers create products that fit their specific needs and product formats. Additionally, with Muenster’s extrusion facility, customers have a full turnkey contract manufacturer for kibble as part of their product.
